Shay v. . the People
New York Court of Appeals
Writ of error to the Supreme Court. The prisoner was convicted of murder, in the New York Oyer and Terminer, upon an indictment which charged that “ the said Mortimer Shay [with omitted], a certain knife which he the said Mortimer Shay in his right hand then and there held, him the said John Leary * * * willfully and feloniously and of his malice aforethought did beat, strike, stab, and wound.”
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Writ of error to the Supreme Court. The prisoner was convicted of murder, in the New York Oyer and Terminer, upon an indictment which charged that “ the said Mortimer Shay [with omitted], a certain knife which he the said Mortimer Shay in his right hand then and there held, him the said John Leary * * * willfully and feloniously and of his malice aforethought did beat, strike, stab, and wound.” There was the formal conclusion, that “ the said Mortimer Shay, in the manner and form and by the means aforesaid, * * * did kill and murder.” One Stephen Leary was sworn as a witness for the People,…
1Opinion of the Court
Comstock, Ch. J.
Leary was a competent witness for the People. The act concerning crimes and their punishment (2 R. S., 701) declares, in the 23d section, that “ No person, sentenced upon a conviction for a felony, shall be competent to testify in any cause, &c., unless pardoned by the Governor or the legislature, except in the cases specially provided by law; but no sentence upon a conviction for any offence other than a felony shall disqualify or render any person incompetent to be sworn or to testify in any cause, matter or proceeding, civil or criminal.” The 30th section of the same act…
2Cited by11 opinions
- Sims v. . SimsNew York Court of Appeals · 1878
- Drennan v. PeopleMichigan Supreme Court · 1862
- The People v. . LyonNew York Court of Appeals · 1885
- State v. HalidaWest Virginia Supreme Court · 1886
- People ex rel. Stetzer v. RawsonNew York Supreme Court · 1872
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